June 7, 2026
After a rebrand away from the Critérium du Dauphiné to the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, A.S.O. have created a harder parcours than we have seen for some time as the last tune-up before the Tour de France. There are only a handful of sprinters in the race and their opportunities are limited to maybe two of the eight days. Stage one opens up the racing with 146 km and 3,200 meters of elevation gain between Vizille and Saint-Ismier, both being suburbs of the great city of Grenoble. The first 40 km head South and are almost all uphill to the summit of the Col de l'Arzelier, officially an 8.5 km climb at 6%. The race will turn back North to climb the Côte de Seyssins, Côte de Quaix-en-Chartreuse, and Col de Vence, all within the first 100 km. Off the Vence, the riders will descend into Meylan to start the Côte de Rousset, an 8.3 km climb at 7.5%. From the top, there is a short descent, a 2 km climb, then the full downhill into Le Versoud. The road gently rises in the last 4 km, including an 800 climb at over 5% which brings the race to within 2 km from the finish in Saint-Ismier for what will likely be a reduced GC sprint.
Highlighted Riders:
Sprinters - Wout van Aert, Phil Bauhaus, Dorian Godon, Vito Braet, Michael Matthews, Bryan Coquard, Henri Uhlig
GC - Isaac del Toro, Paul Seixas, Matteo Jorgenson, Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose, Oscar Onley, Dani Martinez, Tobias Johannessen, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Ben Healy, Alex Baudin, Pello Bilbao, Santiago Buitrago, Georg Zimmermann, Jordan Jegat
Race Summary
The start was given under near perfect conditions with only a wisp of high clouds in the atmosphere. A break of nine got clear early on including German Champion Georg Zimmermann of Lotto Intermarché, Mattéo Vercher of TotalEnergies, Raúl García Pierna of Movistar, Alastair MacKellar and Alex Baudin of EF-Education EasyPost, Sergio Samitier of Cofidis, New Zealand Champion George Bennett of NSN Cycling, Alex Díaz of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, and Clément Braz Afonso of Groupama-FDJ United. With 66 km to go on the approach to the 2.4 km, 10.4% Côte de Quaix-en-Chartreuse, the break had 1 minute 40 seconds as Decathlon CMA CGM had taken responsibility and were holding the break on a tight leash.
The front of the peloton became a busy place with 60 km to go as the riders turned off larger roads towards the climbs. The break started the Côte de Quaix-en-Chartreuse with 1 minute 20 seconds. 600 meters from the top, Samitier went clear from the break in search of the KOM points. He stayed away to grab maximum points but was dropped over the top when Baudin, Vercher, Bennett, and Braz Afonso surged passed. Their gap was still 95 seconds by the start of the Col de Vence at 49 km to go. The peloton looked to be just holding their pace and saving something back for the final climb of the Côte de Rousset.
Vercher was dropped early on but Bennett, Baudin, and Braz Afonso were strong and had built a lead of 2 minutes when Braz Afonso led over the top with 44 km to go. A fight for position in the peloton for the descent chopped roughly 30 seconds off the gap in no time. The peloton screamed down the valley, across the l'Isère River, and into Domenc to start the Côte de Rousset. Only 50 seconds separated the break from the peloton as Lidl-Trek, UAE-XRG, Visma-Lease a Bike, and Decathlon CMA CGM were all battling for the front. In the first 100 meters, Jordan Jegat of TotalEnergies flatted while in the peloton and needed a bike change which was terrible timing. He had a teammate to pace him back but the speed was quick, making it almost impossible to regain contact.
After 4 km of the climb, Baudin had accelerated and gone clear from the break while the peloton was trimming down with every pedal stroke. Dani Martinez of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Ben Healy of EF-Education EasyPost were both dropped under the pressure of Visma-Lease a Bike, UAE-XRG, and Lidl-Trek who all seemed to be arm wrestling for supremacy. Tobias Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility was the next to be distanced which was surprising given his form in the Spring. The pace was hard at this point but there were still 40 riders in the peloton and the action hadn't properly kicked off. Further up the climb, the camera came through the group and picked out Martinez who had managed to make his way back into the group but he was under serious pressure.
1 km from the top, Baudin still had over 1 minute but the moves were starting behind. Kevin Vermaerke of UAE-XRG had put in an attack which caused a reaction from Visma-Lease a Bike and Decathlon CMA CGM. Vermaerke went over the top 1 minute behind Baudin and a handful of seconds ahead of the peloton which had been reduced to around 20 riders. The American started the 2 km rise before the true descent and was no more than 20 meters from being caught. No one in the favorites group wanted to make the last push to close the final meters and Vermaerke went one more time. Decathlon picked up the chase when the road finally went downhill towards the finish and they got help from their fellow French squad, Groupama-FDJ United.
Baudin reached the bottom with 8 km to go and 1 minute 12 seconds on the favorites which had swelled on the descent to around 30 riders and Vermaerke was still somewhere in the middle. No one took the lead in the favorites group and attacks started to flying. With 5 km to go, Vermaerke was picked up by a group to make 10 riders off the front of the favorites group. The riders who had attacked were Luke Plapp of Jayco AlUla, Oscar Onley and Kévin Vauquelin of Netcompany-Ineos, Bruno Armirail and Ben Tulett of Visma-Lease a Bike, Léo Bisiaux of Decathlon CMA CGM, Luke Tuckwell of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Rudy Molard of Groupama-FDJ United, and Ramses Debruyne of Alpecin-Premier Tech. Baudin reached the final rise around 2 km from the line and still had 45 seconds. The chase group had built almost 25 seconds on the rest of the favorites and alarm bells were ringing. Juan Ayuso and Paul Seixas were each pulling to narrow their disadvantage but they had plenty of passengers from those with teammates up ahead. Baudin came into the finish straight with more than enough time to engage with the crowd who were out in force to see the local boy from an hour up the Grésivaudan Valley in Albertville take the stage honors, the first World Tour win of his career. Behind, Plapp took the sprint on early but it was Debruyne who gathered up second place in front of Bisiaux in third, 32 seconds after Baudin. The rest of the favorites group finished just 12 seconds later, saving what could have been a GC disaster on day one.
Oddly, there are no bonus seconds anywhere on course all week, even the finish line, so the GC stands exactly as the riders crossed the line. Baudin will wear the Maillot Jaune et Bleu tomorrow for a long, challenging day to Le Puy-en-Velay.